Tampa Bay Rays - TeamReport

Having given up pitchers James Shields and Wade Davis in a deal to get him, the Rays are confident outfield prospect Wil Myers will, in the not too distant future, be a very good player for them.

But first has to become their kind of player.

"We need complete baseball players," manager Joe Maddon said.

The Rays are impressed by Myers' prodigious hitting ability and want the 22-year-old to keep swinging the way he has, but they already have identified specific areas for him to work on in baserunning and defense.

"My bigger concerns is getting the work necessary on defense, baserunning, etc., the things that we like to do here that he may not have been pushed to do in the past," Maddon said. "I want us to push him to do that now."

Maddon said he wasn't faulting the Royals' development of Myers, but that it is an industry-wide flaw "to overlook things" like outfield footwork and secondary leads with elite prospects.

Maddon said the Rays aren't going to "avoid those conversations" just "because a guy is really good or comes with a great reputation."

Laying out the program now provides the Rays some obvious talking points when they make the expected decision to send Myers to Triple-A to start the season.

But the value of the complete player is not just talk in their organization, as it gives them a way to close the gap on teams with significantly larger payrolls and deeper rosters.

"We need to play the complete game," Maddon said. "We have to be able to steal runs on defense. We've got to pick up runs with our legs. We just can't have a guy go out there and totally focus on offense and not play the rest of the game and have us expect to win 90 games. We can't do it."

Myers said he's all ears. "I want to be open to coaching," he said. "I just want to do whatever they say will help me and the team win."

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MLB Team Report - Tampa Bay Rays - NOTES, QUOTES

--3B Evan Longoria said after his Feb. 26 spring debut that the benefit of the November surgical procedure to clean out scar tissue in his troublesome left hamstring was obvious. And, as if to prove it, he was twice tested on the bases, thrown out trying to score from second and coming around from first on a double. "I felt good," Longoria said. "I felt like it was normal. I don't know how it looks. I know it feels and looks like it feels 100 percent (better) than it did at the end of the season last year, and that's really all that matters."

--LHP David Price provided the Rays with an unnecessary scare in his Feb. 26 exhibition debut, reaching for a comebacker with his bare left hand from the first batter and getting hit on the wrist. Manager Joe Maddon said he yelled from the dugout immediately, but he knows it was just reaction from the ultra-competitive Price. "That's not what you want to see right there," Maddon said. "Fortunately nothing bad happened."

--INF Kelly Johnson has been a starting second baseman the last six seasons for the Braves, Diamondbacks and Blue Jays, but a condition of signing with the Rays was agreeing to move around the field. He made his first appearance in left field since his 2005 rookie season in a Feb. 27 exhibition and is scheduled to also play first base during the spring.

--OF/1B Leslie Anderson hadn't done much during his first three seasons in the organization after defecting from Cuba, but he has shown signs early in spring training that he may be ready to make an impact; he logged a Grapefruit-leading seven RBI in his first three games. Anderson, 30, is in better shape physically and appears more comfortable in the culture. "He looks really good." Maddon said. "He's a different player than the last time I saw him."

--INF Tim Beckham often has been criticized for his slow development since being the top pick in the 2008 draft, especially compared to Giants C Buster Posey, who was taken four picks later. But Beckham, who was suspended 50 games at Triple-A last season for a drug test violation reported to be marijuana, remains confident he will make it to the big leagues. And Rays manager Joe Maddon said he isn't far away. "He can play here right now on the field and on the bases; he can't play here yet consistently offensively," Maddon said. "Once he's able to do that, have a consistent approach and understand what he's doing at the plate, he could play here consistently."

BY THE NUMBERS: 8 -- Scheduled spring appearances for veteran reliever Kyle Farnsworth, who likely won't pitch in an exhibition until around March 8 as the Rays try to keep him healthy.

QUOTE TO NOTE: "To say that I'm going to make you wear a tie and you're going to be a better baseball player, I think is nonsense." -- Manager Joe Maddon, sharing his distaste for dress codes.